If adapting Life Of Pi to the big screen was ambitious, taking on David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas could be madness. His six interconnected stories span centuries and continents, and take in a huge range of themes and characters.

This adaptation – directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer – has the additional complication of using the same actors in multiple roles. We see Tom Hanks as a doctor on a ship in 1849, a nuclear scientist in 1973 San Francisco, an Irish (ouch) author in London 2012 and a valley dweller in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii. Jim Sturgess, meanwhile, is both on board the same ship and a revolutionary resident of 2144 Neo Seoul, among other things.

It’s one of Cloud Atlas’s problems: recognisable actors, including Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon and Hugo Weaving, sport a variety of prosthetics, some so resembling comedy disguises they distract from the stories at hand. When different races are involved, it becomes particularly hard to ignore.

Nonetheless, there’s a lot to love about Cloud Atlas. Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent excel in a charming 1930s strand about a young composer and his less talented employer. Fast forward to 1973 and Whishaw’s letters to his lover end up in the hands of journalist Luisa Rey (Halle Berry), who’s involved in a suspenseful conspiracy investigation.

Yes, all the stories are connected, although if you haven’t read the book, you may find some clues are lost as this flits around with increasing urgency. Despite its grand themes, Cloud Atlas can be enjoyed much like simple channel hopping: while you may welcome the move to the next programme, you won’t want to switch off altogether.